Today Can Stock Photo announced that they have begun accepting submission of stock footage. The footage will be added automatically to Fotosearch’s collections as with the images you submit to them.

It’s as easy to submit film clips as it is to submit images with the help of Can Stock Photos SpeedSubmit interface. You can even send DVDs to them, and let the staff upload them for you, if you have limited bandwidth or a collection of large files.

Payouts for video licensed on Can Stock Photo are $5 for Low Resolution, $15 for Standard Definition, $20 for 720 HD, and $25 for 1080 HD. Fotosearch sells enhanced licenses for footage with payouts of $9.80 for Low Resolution, $29.80 for Standard Definition, and $39.80 for HD.

(Halifax, Canada, March 4, 2009) – Can Stock Photo is excited to announce the launch of a new, improved photo submission system called SpeedSubmit. The upgraded and refined interface will drastically reduce the amount of time and effort required of photographers to submit their stock photos for inclusion into Can Stock Photo’s microstock collection along with Fotosearch’s stock photography library of over 4.5 million images. The entire upload and submission process has been greatly streamlined, which frees photographers and lets them get back to being creative.

Submitting images has never been faster. “I have sent several hundred pictures in the time it would have taken me to send 15,” said one well-known contributor after using SpeedSubmit. “People are going to *WANT* this tool,” said a prominent microstock blogger.

SpeedSubmit is designed to expedite the stock photo submission by simplifying and eliminating some of the laborious tasks typically found on other microstock sites. Image categorization has been entirely automated, thereby removing the need for photographers to scroll through long lists of categories for manual selection. A new release manager visually displays the photographer’s models for rapid identification. The user can now easily upload and attach model releases to a series of stock photos all at once. Photographers can review at least 20 photos, complete with metadata and releases, on a single page and submit them all simultaneously.

“We want photographers to know that we value their time as well as their images, and simplifying the submission process increases the photographer’s return”, stated Duncan Enman, Can Stock Photo’s founder. Can Stock Photo’s team of developers has attentively listened to the comments of photographers in order to make SpeedSubmit the best way to make stock photos available for sale to the millions of people who visit Can Stock Photo and Fotosearch every week.

About Fotosearch®
Publitek, Inc., dba Fotosearch, is one of the largest stock image agencies in the world, representing more than 100 royalty free agencies and more than 4 million photos. Fotosearch’s impressive client list includes international magazines, newspapers, and publishing companies, as well as thousands of major advertising firms in the U.S. and abroad. Visit Fotosearch Stock Photography at http://www.fotosearch.com to Find the Perfect Photo Fast™.

About Can Stock Photo Inc.
Can Stock Photo™ is a microstock agency founded by Duncan Enman in 2004. Can Stock Photo represents more than 1,000,000 stock images and has more than 30,000 members. Visit Can Stock Photo at http://www.canstockphoto.com.

Personally I didn’t join Can Stock Photo until last week. I have never tried their old upload system but I can testify that the new SpeedSubmit upload is really fast. Since you don’t have to categorize any images it’s really speedy.

The reason for not joining Can Stock Photo earlier is that people have been reporting really bad sales there. But over the last weeks that seem to have changed. Many are saying that they have earned as much in one month as they did for a whole year before. The reason for that is that CSP was aquired by Fotosearch in November 2008. So now all the images you send to CSP is automatically available for the millions of people who visit Fotosearch every week.

I have only earned $0.50 on CSP so far but I’m hoping it will be much more in the future! It seems like CSP is developing very positively now and I think that it can become a good earner in the future.

Last week, Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based online stock photo agency, just reached another milestone as it added the 6 millionth image to its rapidly growing library of premium royalty-free stock images. In less than four months, Shutterstock has added over one million images, reinforcing its status as the fastest growing site for high quality, royalty-free images.

“We continue to experience tremendous growth in both the size of our library and in the volume of images that our subscribers download,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “Thanks to more than 144,000 submitters who contribute to our library, our customers can depend on us for a steady source of fresh, high quality content.”

While Shutterstock continues to accept an average of 70,000 images per week, the company remains committed to accepting only the highest quality stock photos, illustrations, and vectors from its global base of talented submitters. In fact, fewer than 40 percent of the images Shutterstock receives are approved for the online library.

“We take great pride in our reputation as one of the most selective agencies,” said Adam Riggs, president and chief financial officer of Shutterstock. “To reach this milestone so rapidly while maintaining our stringent acceptance standards is a testament to the creativity and passion of our photographers and illustrators.”

Riggs is referring to submitters like Sadik Demiroz of Istanbul, Turkey, who submitted the 6 millionth royalty-free image. Demiroz shot his artful composition using a technique called “selective focus” to highlight a field of daisies on the English seaside, while leaving the background out of focus.

“I’m thrilled that my photo is the 6 millionth image,” said Demiroz. “Given Shutterstock’s reputation for selectivity, this recognition is a true honor.”

Demiroz is a professional photographer with an MFA degree in photography from Savannah College of Art and Design. He has won more than 200 national and international awards and opened seven solo exhibitions.

This is Shutterstocks 6 millionth image, shot by Sadik Demiroz…

To hear that Shutterstock accepts fewer than 40 percent of the images they receive makes me a little bit proud that most of my images get accepted. I still think that Shutterstock is the best microstock agency to belong to for two reasons. The first reason is that I earn the most here even if the difference isn’t as big now as it was when I begun. The second reason is that you are encouraged to continue to send in new images. I want to send in new pictures every week so that I continue to get downloads. If it hadn’t been for Shutterstock I don’t think my portfolio would have grown as quickly as it has now.

On November 3, 2008 – Shutterstock®, the world’s largest subscription-based online stock photo agency announced the landmark addition of its 5 millionth image to the company’s extensive collection of premium stock photos. Thanks to its popular subscription-based model, speedy review process, and consistent stream of quality submissions, Shutterstock continues to hit new industry growth milestones while maintaining high standards of image quality.

“Since January, we have added over 2 million new royalty-free images to our library, and our weekly library growth rate has recently reached more than 70,000 new images per week,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “We are extremely proud to reach the 5 million image mark, especially while maintaining our stringent standards for accepting new images. We are certainly grateful to our global base of more than 120,000 talented submitters who provide our subscribers with a steady pipeline of great creative content.”

“As media companies and creative firms look for ways to save money, more and more decision makers are choosing Shutterstock to provide high quality stock images at significant savings,” said Adam Riggs, president of Shutterstock. “Since launching Shutterstock, we have remained committed to providing the best content at affordable prices. That’s why we’re confident that we will continue to meet the demands of today’s marketplace.”

The 5 millionth image is this one by Shutterstock contributor Catalin Plesa…

On May 28 123RF.com announced the launch of Corporate Stockphoto Intranet (CSI). 123RF’s CSI will empower corporate companies with a large number of creative designers, art buyers and art directors to search, lightbox and download from 123RF’s image library of over 2 million royalty-free stock photos and illustrations. Stephanie Sitt, the VP of Sales and Marketing for 123RF states that, “The main advantage of CSI is that companies are able retain its own corporate identity while 123RF plays the part of creative content supplier in the background.”

Sitt goes on to explain that CSI was created in an effort to further promote 123RF’s contributors’ images to large organizations worldwide. She later concludes by saying “CSI will help expand our client’s service and product offering, enabling our clients to subsequently empower their own clients, partners or staff members to search, compile and download images in a more familiar and controlled environment.”

For a promotional period, 123RF’s Corporate Stockphoto Intranet comes FREE to clients who purchase a minimum of 2,500 download credits – at a 30% discount rate! To learn more about what 123RF Corporate Stockphoto Intranet is all about and how it can help an organization, the public is invited to visit http://www.123rf.com/corporate for more information and to explore the demo site

On May 14 iStockphoto announced that they are going to start selling audio on their site also…

World’s Stock Imagery Sales Leader Will Offer Industry’s Easiest Way to Purchase all Types of Multimedia Under One Account

IStockphoto®, the company that revolutionized the stock photography market by offering images online for prices as low as $1, announced it will add royalty-free audio tracks to its collection of downloadable stock content in September 2008. In so doing, iStockphoto will become the first company to offer stock imagery, video footage, vector illustrations, Flash files and audio for purchase under one payment model, on one convenient site.

iStockphoto is currently looking for composers, performers, musicians and audio technicians to submit music, spoken word/voice, instrumental, ambient and sound-effect audio track submissions. The iStock user community of more than three million members will be able to purchase audio tracks for one to 25 credits each depending on complexity and can be used in Web site production or to complement video footage and presentations. Every time an audio track is downloaded, 20–40 percent of the revenue will go to the contributing sound artist.

This business model, known as micropayment, was created by iStockphoto in 2001. It not only fueled the tremendous growth of the company, but has also proven itself to be a great way to provide supplementary and sometimes full-time income for contributing artists. In 2007, the company paid more than $20 million in royalties to its contributors.

“Our customers are looking for something that helps them effectively communicate ideas in new and exciting ways,” said Bruce Livingstone, founder and CEO of iStock. “By adding audio to the mix, we are now able to offer customers a complete palette of multimedia tools from which they can work.”

Becoming an iStock Sound Artist:

Sound artist applicants can review a tutorial and take a brief quiz at http://www.istockphoto.com/audio_1.0_intro.php. The artists will then be asked to submit three 5–30 second audio tracks for review and approval. Once accepted as artists, contributors may submit tracks that range from five seconds to four minutes in length. All tracks will be individually reviewed for quality and legality before being approved for sale. If you are a member of a performing rights organization, (e.g., SOCAN, ASCAP, BMI etc.) anywhere in the world, you are not eligible to submit audio content to iStockphoto, as this precludes the content from being royalty-free. Those who are members of a performing rights organization are welcome to submit to our sister site, Pump Audio, at http://www.pumpaudio.com.

Sound artists can choose to be exclusive immediately and will earn 20–40 percent on the sale of each track depending on the number of downloads they have achieved. For more information on the process or music and sound categories, please visit: http://www.istockphoto.com/audio.php

Yesterday Shutterstock announced that contributors will get a raise. If you have earned under $500 you still only receive $0.25 per downloaded image but if you have earned over $500 you get $0.33 per download. That is an increase with 3 cents from before. In addition to that those who have earned between $3000 and $10 000 will now receive $0.36 per download and those who have earned over $10 000 get $0.38 per download. The earnings for Extended Licence sales have increased with $8 from $20 to $28 per EL sale. That is a nice raise!

It’s a bit sad that those of us that haven’t yet earned $500 didn’t get a raise but when we eventually reach $500 it will be nice. Personally I have to earn almost $200 more before I reach $500.

Stephanie Sitt, the VP of Sales and Marketing for 123RF states that, “The EVO Label represents a dawning of a new breed of imagery that is especially relevant to the dynamic and changing needs of clients. Clients can expect EVO images to be of the highest technical quality and with some level of exclusivity as the license for EVO image comes at a small premium. EVO is specially tailored for clients who are looking for something not too costly and yet not so readily available at all microstock sites.”

Sitt adds, “Contributors to the EVO Label have been carefully selected for their impressive and consistent work and are well recognized figures among the ranks of Contributors at 123RF. We believe that contributors with a flair for excellence deserve due recognition and should be granted a position in EVO. Contribution to EVO is a by invitation-only and portfolios of possible candidates are evaluated by a panel consisting of experienced directors of photography and art directors. The criteria for selection are a good eye for highly stock related shots, good composition and lighting. To ensure that customers will only get the best, all EVO submissions goes through several stages of stringent approvals to ensure quality control and high relevancy. In addition to that, we will be sourcing for suitable partner suppliers to include their library into EVO as well in the near future. “

Contributors who have been invited to EVO can submit up to 20 images a day for consideration. Available only under credit downloads, EVO Contributors will include their image under any of four price tiers. These tiers are Silver (5 to 20 credits), Gold (10 to 40 credits), Titanium (20 to 80 credits) and Platinum (40 to 160 credits).

EVO images shall be included among the 123RF basic search results and will have a small EVO logo underneath each thumbnail. Clients with the help of advanced search filters, can opt to exclude or to search exclusively from the EVO Label. “123RF will only add 500 to 1,000 images per working day to ensure high relevancy and that the database remains fresh always.” adds Sitt.

EVO will undoubtedly bring new clients seeking high quality images at reasonable prices into 123RF and level the playing field as the entire image collection at 123RF continues to be diverse and yet relevant. 123RF will be at the forefront by developing new tools, generating new ideas and revolutionizing new concepts all in an effort to bring clients ever closer to alternative sources of imagery. Sitt concludes by saying that, ”EVO is the beginning of a whole new evolution in the industry.”

This weekend I found out that Lucky Oliver is going to close May 15. I’ve been so busy with other stuff lately that I haven’t had time to stay updated about what is going on in the microstock world. So this was really a big surprise to me. I think it’s very strange that Lucky Oliver hasn’t even sent out a message to its contributors. A newsletter would have been appropriate one may think.

If you have earned enough to get a payout you have to request it before May 15. If you have not earned enough you can convert your money to tokens which you can buy pictures with. Many are upset over this. Even if one has only earned a single dollar you want to get paid. We have actually sold something and Lucky Oliver has been paid, so why shouldn’t we even if we haven’t earned that much? It will be interesting to see if they change their mind and give everyone their money.

Lucky Oliver was one of the stock agencies I earned the least with so I can’t say it affects me very much when they close. But they had the best reviewers – they always left good comments and constructive criticism. So it’s a bit sad that they will disappear.

Last night (in Swedish time) Shutterstock announced that they now offer monthly subscriptions to their Footage library! Earlier you had to pay for each film clip you wanted to download but that has now changed. As of yesterday you can buy a monthly subscription and download a certain number of clips during the subscription period. The person selling the clip will earn $13.25 for every high definition footage clip downloaded in a footage subscription and $8 for every non-high definition download.

I think this is fantastic! It will be very interesting to see if this will make the footage downloads more popular. It will also be interesting to see if it pays to send in new footage constantly as it does with pictures. If you stop sending in new pictures your earnings will drop (at least in my experience). Will it be the same for footage?

Personally I only have one single clip for sale (and one that is waiting for review). But this makes me want to start producing more film clips. I think this is very good news!